Updated 17 April 2025
On Display Permanent collection
On Display
Cow with a Beautiful Tail
| Date | 1954 |
|---|---|
| Materials and Techniques | oil on canvas |
| Size（cm） | 97 x 130 |
| Inscriptions | Signed and dated upper right: J. Dubuffet / 54 |
| Credit Line | Donated by Mr. Itsuro Hirano |
| Standard ref. | Loreau vol. 10, 112 |
| Category | Paintings |
| Collection Number | P.1979-0003 |
The NMWA collection includes two of Dubuffet's masterpieces, and both works were donated to the museum by private collectors (The 1950 work Woman's Body (Corps de Dame "L'hirsute") was donated by Mr. Tokutaro Yamamura.). Art Informel is one of the most important trends in post World War II European art, and this movement can be viewed as a corrective response to the Geometric Abstract art of the pre-war period. The artists who painted in this trend criticized the academization and formalization of Geometric Abstraction, and by taking various symbolic elements and emotive forms from within abstraction, overcame an opposition to pre-war abstract art and surrealism. As opposed to the classicism of geometric abstract art, Art Informel was a form of romantic abstraction. The artists who pioneered in this Art Informel movement were Jean Fautrier, Dubuffet, and Wols. They came to grips with several problems of the painting itself, and Dubuffet performed a huge role in one of the style's most important experiments, the search for matière. While Cow with a Beautiful Tail extends the medium to its extremes, in other works the artist mixed dirt with his pigments to overcome the line between painting and nature, and then attached leaves and butterfly wings directly to the painting surface in order to abstract one layer of nature. Dubuffet dubbed such collage-like works assemblage. (Source: Masterpieces of the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 2009, cat. no.123)
Provenance
Kootz Gallery, New York; Donated by Mr. Itsuro Hirano, Tokyo, 12 February 1980.
Exhibition History
- 1982
- Exposition Jean Dubuffet, The Seibu Museum of Art, Tokyo, 2 January 1982 - 21 February 1982, The National Museum of Art, Osaka, 26 February-28 March 1982, cat. no. 11, col. repr.
- 1983
- [Tour Exhibition] Kokuritsu Bijutsukan Shozo, Naigai Bijutsu Meihin Ten (Masterpieces from the National Museums: Japanese and European Art), Toyama Kenmin-kaikan Museum, 1 October 1983 - 16 October 1983, Fukui Fine Arts Museum, 21 Octber-6 November; Toyohashi City Art Museum, 11 November-27 Novmber, cat. no. 19, repr.
- 1988
- Invitation to the 20th Century Painting, Fukuyama Museum of Art, 0 1988 - 0 1988, cat. no. 78, repr.
- 1990
- Jean Dubuffet, 1901-1985, Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, 12 December 1990 - 3 March 1991, cat. no. 127, col. repr.
- 2011
- Postwar abstract painting in France and art informel, Bridgestone Museum of Art, Ishibashi Foundation, 29 April 2011 - 6 July 2011, cat. no. 37, repr. color.
Bibliography
- 1969
- Loreau, Max. Catalogue des travaux de Jean Dubuffet: fascicule X, Vaches/ Petites statues de la vie précaire. Paris, 1969, p. 85, no. 112, repr.
- 1981
- Annual Bulletin of the National Museum of Western Art. No. 14 (1979), 1981, New Acquisitions (Painting). pp. 5, 10, New Acquisitions (Catalogue). pp. 24-25, repr., p. 61.
- 1982
- Catalogue de l'Exposition Jean Dubuffet (exh. cat.). The Seibu Museum of Art, Tokyo, ed. [Tokyo], The Seibu Museum of Art, Tokyo, 1982, p. 36, cat. no. 11, col. repr.
- 1983
- Masterpieces of the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, 1983 (Japanese, preface in Japanese and English), no. 90, repr.
- 1988
- 20seiki Kaiga e no Shotai: Kaikan Kinen Tokubetsu Ten (exh. cat.). Fukuyama Museum of Art, ed. [Fukuyama], Fukuyama Museum of Art, 1988, pp. 90, 126-127, cat. no. 78, col. repr.
- 1989
- Masterpieces of the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, 1989 (Japanese, preface in Japanese and English), no. 112, repr.
- 1990
- Jean Dubuffet: 1901-1985 (exh. cat.). Messer, Thomas M. Frankfurt am Main, Schirn Kunsthalle, 1990, pp. 111, 249, cat. no. 127, col. repr.
- 1990
- Catalogue of painting acquisitions: 1979-1989. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, 1990, pp. 32-34, repr.
- 2006
- Masterpieces of The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art; Tokyo, The Western Art Foundation, 2006 (Japanese, preface in Japanese and English), no. 123, col. repr.
- 2009
- Masterpieces of The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art; Tokyo, The Western Art Foundation, 2009, no. 123, col. repr.
- 2011
- Postwar Abstract Painting in France and art informel(exh. cat.). [Tokyo], Bridgestone Museum of Art, Ishibashi Foundation, c2011, cat. no. 37, col. repr.